[NOTE: The following article is a press release issued by the aforementioned network and/or company. Any errors, typos, etc. are attributed to the original author. The release is reproduced solely for the dissemination of the enclosed information.]

SEASON PREMIERE

THE FAREWELL SEASON BEGINS WITH AXL RETURNING HOME FROM EUROPE, SPORTING A MAN-BUN AND A NEW OUTLOOK ON LIFE; BRICK MAKES THE DECISION TO BREAK UP WITH CINDY; AND SUE TRIES TO CRAM AN ENTIRE SUMMER OF FUN INTO TWO DAYS, ON THE SEASON PREMIERE OF ABC'S 'THE MIDDLE'

After almost a decade on the air, the upcoming ninth season of ABC's critically acclaimed fan-favorite series "The Middle" will be its final one. Two-time Emmy-winner Patricia Heaton stars in this warm and witty single-camera comedy about raising a family and lowering your expectations. Middle-aged, middle class and living in the middle of the country in Orson, Indiana, Frankie Heck is a harried wife and mother of three who uses her wry wit and sense of humor to get her family through each day intact. Frankie works as a dental assistant, and her unflappable husband, Mike, is manager at the local quarry and her sardonic partner in the daily grind that is raising their average - yes, most definitely average - family.

On the season premiere episode, "Vive La Hecks," airing TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3 (8:00-8:30 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network, Axl returns home from his summer trip to Europe, sporting a man-bun and embracing a new, chill European outlook on life. Mike just wants him to clean up and look for a job, but Frankie thinks Axl will do this on his own and asks Mike to give him a little breathing room. Meanwhile, because Sue worked the entire summer at Spudsy's and missed out on having any fun, she decides to cram in a whole summer of fun in two days before going back to college; Brick makes the decision to break up with Cindy because he doesn't want to be tied down in a relationship when he's about to embark on the revelry of his "big sophomore year"; and Frankie desperately tries to come up with an item for a time capsule that's being buried under the Orson cow that will make the town remember the Hecks when it's opened in 100 years.

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ADDITIONAL NOTES:two additional episodes ordered on 11/3/17; the show's current season will be its last

DESCRIPTION:(from ABC's press release, August 2017) The upcoming ninth season of ABC's critically acclaimed fan-favorite series "The Middle" will be its final one. It was announced by Channing Dungey, president, ABC Entertainment. After almost a decade on the air, the executive producers of the award-winning series have decided that the ninth season would be the best one in which to wrap up the story of the Heck family. The show stars two-time Emmy-winner Patricia Heaton as a harried wife and mother of three who lives in the middle of the country in Orson, Indiana, and uses her wry wit and sense of humor to get her family through each day intact. The farewell season begins Tuesday, October 3, at 8:00 p.m. EDT. "The Middle" has received three Humanitas Prize nominations, with a win in 2016 for creators/executive producers Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline in the 30 Minute Category for the episode "The Graduate," a Critics' Choice Award nomination and a Gracie Award for Outstanding Comedy. Eden Sher previously received a Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Sue Heck. Esquire.com called the show "the finest American sitcom on TV right now," and the Los Angeles Times exclaimed that "'The Middle' is the best family comedy on television."